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Flesh Tearers
Gabriel Seth, taken from an illuminated manuscript-painted by Imperial artisan Aerion the Faithful]] The Flesh Tearers are the smallest Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, numbering only four full companies of Astartes. They are Loyalists of the Emperor of Mankind though their heavy affliction with the Flaws of their Primarch Sanguinius has led to their investigation on charges of heresy by the Inquisition. They have been cleared of suspicion at present. Like their progenitors, the Flesh Tearers are known for their bloodthirsty nature in battle, bad temper and feared for the Flaws like the Black Rage and the Red Thirst that they carry within their gene-seed. The Flesh Tearers generally make use of the tactical organisation pioneered by the Blood Angels, though they favour close combat over ranged warfare and most Flesh Tearer Space Marines are skilled with melee weapons like Chainswords or Power Swords and bear them into battle. The Flesh Tearers call the Death World of Cretacia home. It is a violent, tropical world where the dominant form of life are giant reptiles very similar to the dinosaurs who once existed on Terra during the Cretaceous Period more than 65 million years ago. It is a common right of passage for Flesh Tearers recruits to hunt these massive animals and bring back a trophy of their kill before they are made Neophytes of the Chapter. Chapter History The Flesh Tearers Chapter was created in the 31st Millennium after the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, who led the reformations sweeping the Imperium after the Horus Heresy, determined that all of the existing Space Marine Legions would be broken up into 1,000-man Chapters so that no single commander could ever again wield the power of an entire Astartes Legion. This event is known as the Second Founding and the Flesh Tearers were one of the Chapters formed from the Blood Angels Legion. The Flesh Tearers' reputation for savagery in battle was soon well-known, and so the terrible Flaws of the Blood Angels' genetic legacy must have asserted themselves very soon after the death of the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius during the Battle of Terra. In the wake of the Horus Heresy, as the forces of the Imperium moved to put down the remaining pockets of rebellion, the High Lords of Terra chose to ignore the Flesh Tearers' bloody reputation in favour of their remarkable efficiency at subduing rebellious worlds during the Great Scouring. For thousands of years after their Founding, the Flesh Tearers were a mobile, crusading Chapter. Eventually, however, the Chapter chose to establish a permanent fortress-monastery upon the death world of Cretacia, deep in the galactic West. Cretacia was home to a small population of feral humans whose genes were pure and who had developed a remarkable Neolithic warrior culture that produced strong and able Flesh Tearer recruits. The Chapter had great need for this easy supply of recruits, for as the centuries passed the Flaw in the Flesh Tearers' gene-seed gradually worsened and few Flesh Tearer Space Marines were able to avoid succumbing to the Black Rage after more than 200 standard years. By the end of the 41st Millennium, the Flesh Tearers were able to deploy only four fully combat-ready companies and the degradation of their gene-seed seemed to be only increasing, making it likely that unless a remedy can be found the Chapter will ultimately cease to exist. The high incidence of the Black Rage in the Chapter has led the Inquisition to question the purity of the Flesh Tearers on multiple occasions and many other Space Marine Chapters refuse to fight alongside the Flesh Tearers because of their reputation for uncontrolled savagery and genetic corruption, as well as the fear that their bloodlust might be infectious. Since the terrible Kallern Massacres of the 36th Millennium the Chapter has essentially remained under the watchful eyes of the Ordo Hereticus. Notable Campaigns *'The Kallern Massacres (36th Millennium)' - During the Imperial defence of the world of Kallern, the Flesh Tearers Astartes present on the planet were overcome by the Black Rage and slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians as well as the foe. As a result of these massacres, the Flesh Tearers came under the close scrutiny of the Inquisition for potential heresy. *'A New Beginning (815.M41)' - Gabriel Seth becomes the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. His first act is to repair relations between his Chapter and the Blood Angels, as the tradition of brotherhood between the Chapters had been sundered for centuries by the Flesh Tearers bloodthirstyness. *'The Stromark Civil War (991.M41)' - A political rivalry within the Stromark System lead to a civil war between the two manufactorum worlds, Stormark Primus and Stromark Secundus, that coexisted within that star system. The escalating violence halted the flow of much needed weapons and materiel from these planets to the wider Imperium, a situation that the Departmento Munitorum's Adepts determined could not be allowed to continue without adversely affecting the security of the Emperor's realm. As a result, elements of two Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels, the Angels Encarmine and the Flesh Tearers, were despatched to the Stromark System with the mandate to end the conflict by any means necessary. The fighting on Stromark Prime was the first to cease. The first engagement by the Flesh Tearers Chapter was also the last, as stories of unstoppable Space Marines hacking a vicius and bloody path through literally tens of thousands of Stormarkian warriors quickly terrified the planet's recalcitrant population into submission. Stromark Secundus took longer to be pacified, as the Angels Encarmine used less "direct" methods than their savage brethren amongst the Flesh Tearers. Several hours of difficult combat ensued that was brought to an end when 5 of the Chapter's Furioso Dreadnoughts smashed into the Stormarkian Secundus military headquarters and tore the planet's High Command apart. The surviving officers of the planet's Planetary Defence Force wisely agreed to immediately end the conflict with their neighbours and resume meeting the system's crucial production quotas. *'Third War for Armageddon' (998.M41) - Five full companies of Flesh Tearers participated in the Third War for Armageddon, where the Chapter was nearly declared Excommunicate Traitoris and subjected to investigation by the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus after they had, in a fit of the Black Rage, slaughtered Imperial citizen militia once they had run out of Orks to kill. Amongst the Orks of Armageddon, the Chapter became known as the "Eaters of the Dead." Later in the campaign, the Orks were known to have retreated when the Flesh Tearers attacked or faced them on the battlefield, a display of fear virtually unheard of among the Greenskins. The incident occurred after the Flesh Tearers were deployed in the Fire Wastes of Armageddon alongside the Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Argent Shroud. The Imperial forces were deployed against the artillery of the Ork Warlord Ruklum, who held positions besieging the civilian settlement of Gaius Point, the citizens of which had formed an irregular militia to aid the Imperial forces in their defence. The Flesh Tearers managed to deploy behind the Orks and force them into the guns of the Sisters of Battle and the Gaius Point militia. After slaughtering the Orks to a Greenskin, the uncontrollable Flesh Tearers assaulted Gaius Point themselves and killed every member of the militia. Rather than fight their own allies, the Sisters of Battle withdrew from the field, but the Order of the Argent Shroud reported the massacre to the Ordo Hereticus and recommended that the Flesh Tearers Chapter be declared Excommunicate Traitoris. *'Eritaen' (Date Unknown) - The Flesh Tearers led a campaign against the Companitas, a drug-using Chaos-corrupted rebel faction, on the world of Eritaen. The Companitas used a Chaos-corrupted drug created by devotees of Slaanesh that could induce a hysterical state in the user and could even bring the recently deceased back to life for short periods. *'Defense of Baal' (998-999.M41) - When the Blood Angels' homeworld of Baal was under threat from an invasion by both the Tyranids and the Forces of Chaos, the Blood Angels' Chapter Master Dante, realizing that the Blood Angels could not face these threats alone, sent a call for aid to all Blood Angels Successor Chapters to aid in the defense. The Flesh Tearers were the first to respond to this call, bringing the entire Chapter to the defense of Baal and the Blood Angels. Chapter Organisation The Black Rage and the Red Thirst The Chapter is afflicted by two dangerous genetic gene-seed Flaws which causes most Veterans of the Chapter to succumb to the effects of the Blood Angels' Black Rage. This can cause them to go insane prior to or during battle and feel the rage that Sanguinius himself felt during the Battle of Terra. The condition is largely irrecoverable. For unknown reasons, more Flesh Tearers succumb to the Black Rage than any other Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels, and therefore are dwindling in numbers, which also explains why they currently only have enough Space Marines in their ranks to deploy four full companies. The Flesh Tearers also suffer from the Red Thirst, an overwhelming desire to physically taste their enemies' blood. Unfortunately, when this trait is combined with the Black Rage it can devolve into outright cannibalistic assaults by the enraged Space Marines and is one of the traits that earned this Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes its unusually savage name for a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter. Chapter Combat Doctrine The Flesh Tearers favor assault tactics, and they are infamous for their savage style of melee fighting. Mostly truthful rumours of cannibalism and blood-drinking rituals follow the Chapter because of their affliction with the genetic Flaw known as the Red Thirst. The Flesh Tearers were once a fully ''Codex Astartes''-compliant Chapter, but they are currently a pure assault force because of both their proclivities and their small numbers. The Flesh Tearers deploy an unusually high number of Assault Marines and often deploy them in vehicles. However, because of their low numbers, every Space Marine of the Chapter is cross-trained in all of the needed roles, serving as Tactical, Assault, Devastator and vehicle-mounted Marines as the situation demands. The Chapter uses few vehicles save for Rhinos, Razorbacks and a few Whirlwind missile launchers. Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours The Flesh Tearers have a two-tone colour scheme with crimson red covering the torso, arms and legs of their Power Armour, while the helmet, shoulder pauldrons and backpack are a jet black colour. Like the Blood Angels, the Flesh Tearers' company designation is displayed on the right shoulder plate in the form of a skull (for the Veteran 1st Company) or a differently-coloured drop of blood for the other companies. A Flesh Tearers' squad designation is determined by a Low Gothic numeral placed on the right knee plate. Chapter Badge The Flesh Tearers' Chapter badge is a circular white saw with a tear-shaped crimson blood drop in the center. Notable Chapter Members *'Chapter Master Gabriel Seth' - titled "Guardian of the Rage," the current Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. *'High Chaplain Carnarvon' - known as the Watcher of the Lost, the Flesh Tearer who commemorates every member of the Chapter who dies in combat or ultimately succumbs to the Black Rage. *'Chapter Master Amit' - Amit was the Flesh Tearers Chapter Master millennia ago who conquered the death world of Cretacia for the Imperium and then established his Chapter's fortress-monastery there. *'Captain Gorn' - Gorn was the Flesh Tearers Force Commander responsible for the terrible Kallern Massacres carried out by the Chapter when many of its marines fell prey to the Black Rage. Chapter Fleet The Flesh Tearers Chapter Fleet is relatively small, possessing only a single known Battle Barge, the Victus. The Victus is a truly ancient starship, having been in service with the Blood Angels Legion during the Great Crusade ten millennia ago. The Flesh Tearers also possess a number of Strike Cruisers that have been modified to gain an extended transport capacity for their vehicles. Sources *''Codex: Space Marines'' (Third Edition), p. 47 *''Codex: Armageddon'' (Third Edition), p. 32 *''Codex: Blood Angels'' (Fifth Edition), pp. 14, 54 *''Index Astartes I'', "Flesh Tearers" Gallery Flesh Tearers Marine.png|Flesh Tearers Tactical Marine Flesh_Tearer_Assault_Brother.jpg|Flesh Tearers Assault Marine Flesh_Tearers_Weapons.jpg|TheFlesh Tearers "Tools of Terror" - Chainaxe, ritual flaying knife and Power Sword Category:F Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines